What's top of the list on all runners' Christmas wish lists? A PB of course! And while Santa Claus may not be able to rustle one of those up per se, he can help you give it your best shot with a brand spanking new pair of racing shoes. We may have our go-to shoes for slogging out the miles but it is perhaps fair to say many runners don't know where to start when it comes to choosing a pair of shoes for speed.

The concept of the supergroup is most commonly associated with music - Blind Faith (the Eric Clapton–Stevie Winwood project) and the Travelling Wilburys (Dylan, Harrison, Orbison etc) are good examples. Now some of the UK's top ultra runners have dusted down the 'supergroup' idea to target an ambitious long-distance challenge.

jogscotland, working in partnership with SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health), is to benefit from a two-year grant from the Changing Lives Fund. The funding will enable them to improve the number of people from black and minority ethnic (BME) communities participating in jogscotland programmes.

Cyprus is now a regular spring destination for British runners with the growing popularity of the OPAP Limassol Marathon GSO. The event scheduled for Saturday and Sunday 24/25 March in 2019 includes a full programme of marathon, half marathon, 10k and 5k which encourages group and family parties.

Forget about booking next year’s summer holiday, now’s the time to get yourself signed up for Mizuno’s Endure24. The bad new is that the Reading event is already a sell-out, but the good news is that Leeds (28-30 June) still has availability.

Eilud Kipchoge’s stunning performance at this year’s Berlin Marathon, at which he set the fastest time ever over 26.2 miles, reiterated what we already knew about the race – it really is an event where magic happens. If you feel like you could be tempted by the 2019 BMW Berlin Marathon, then Sports Tours International have a number of packages on offer for what could well be a CV defining event.